| You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best!! | |
| Type: | Compilation album |
| Artist: | Kiss |
| Cover: | You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best.jpg |
| Released: | June 25, 1996 |
| Recorded: | 1975, 1977 & 1996 |
| Genre: | Hard rock |
| Length: | 59:16 |
| Label: | Mercury |
| Producer: | Various |
| Prev Title: | Kiss Unplugged |
| Prev Year: | 1996 |
| Next Title: | Greatest Kiss |
| Next Year: | 1997 |
You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best!! is a live compilation album released by American hard rock band Kiss. The album was issued to coincide with the group's 1996–97 Alive/Worldwide Tour. All of the songs on the album are live versions, with most taken from Alive! (1975) or Alive II (1977). Four recordings had been previously unreleased, with the liner notes stating that the tracks are outtakes from Alive! and Alive II-era recordings, however the four unreleased tracks are simply re-recordings by the band. The final track is an interview with the reunited group, conducted by Jay Leno.
The album received mixed reviews. AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album one star out of five and said, "It's a rip-off album, pure and simple... There is simply no reason for this to exist... you may have wanted the best, but you didn't get it – you just got exploited." Rolling Stone 1996 review was also negative, calling it a "shameless reunion-promotion biscuit".[1] However, the 2004 album guide by the same magazine gave the album three stars out of five.
The album was certified gold by the RIAA on May 21, 1997.
The Japanese CD and US vinyl releases had another live track ("New York Groove"), featuring Eric Carr on drums rather than Peter Criss, which was also released as a promotional single at Blockbuster. The track is also available on the Apple Music version of the album.[2]